Giant Scale Fly-In set for Saturday

Friday

Sep 8, 2017 at 10:58 AMSep 8, 2017 at 4:13 PM

Erin Mathews @ErinMathewsSJ

Looking for something fun to do Saturday? Look up.

The Smoky Hill Model Flying Club will host its annual Giant Scale Fly-in starting at 9 a.m. and continuing through late afternoon at the club’s flying site, three-fourths of a mile east of Ohio Street on Schilling Road.

Spectators of all ages are welcome at no charge. It’s not a bad idea to bring your own chairs, although bleacher seating is available. You also might consider packing a lunch, or at least some bottles of water, as no concessions will be available onsite.

The fly-in will showcase radio-controlled aircraft pilots from novice to expert, with airplanes sporting both electric and fuel-powered motors. Between 25 and 30 radio-control pilots normally attend from Kansas and surrounding states, bringing with them 30 to 40 planes, said club president Kevin Schafer, of Salina.

It's not a contest — just an opportunity for area modelers to enjoy a day of flying together and talking about their planes.

"There's nothing unusual this year — it's basically a bunch of pilots getting together to fly planes," Schafer said.

He said the planes will range in size from wingspans of 80 inches to almost 20 feet. Schafer said in addition to pilots from Kansas and other states in the region, there might be a Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus student flying a drone on autopilot.

He said spectators are encouraged to talk to the pilots.

"Most of them are more than happy to show off their planes and talk about them," he said.

He said some members of the club still build their planes, but most put them together from kits that come almost ready to fly.

He said the planes are scale models of real aircraft from various times in aviation history.

"They run the whole range from civilian to aerobatic to old warbird models," Schafer said.